Magnetic resonance imaging (“MRI”) is a medical imaging technique that captures an image of a specimen's internal structures without the use of X-rays. An MRI machine applies a strong magnetic field and electromagnetic stimulus to the specimen, causing atoms of the specimen to emit electromagnetic signals in response. The MRI machine captures the electromagnetic signals emitted by the specimen and from those captured signals constructs the image.
A known limitation of MRI machines is the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the captured signals. Noise is generated by a variety of sources, including the circuitry of the MRI machine itself, and corrupts and obscures the signals emitted by the specimen. SNR may be improved by either boosting the signal, for example by increasing the strength of the static magnetic field, or by reducing the noise, for example by improving the MRI machine's signal processing circuitry, or by a combination of both. Such approaches are less than ideal, however, there are limits to the amount of power that can be safely applied to some specimens, such as a living animal, and noise cannot be completely eliminated.